While she isn’t the eldest, Jihyo had always been the unofficial leader of their friend group—she knows everything and anything about the girls, their relationships with one another, their families, problems… She would know it all. She gives solid advice, too, and is one of the group members whom the others turn to for advice.

 

So when she forgets her phone at the dorm, Mina is surprised. She’s usually well-put together, she thinks to herself. She picks up the phone to put it on Jihyo’s bed so that it wouldn’t get lost, then gets back to her visitor for the day.

 

“Are you sure Jihyo hasn’t told anyone yet?” Momo asks as she gives Mina a peck on the lips, gently pushing her down the bed. She starts kissing Mina’s neck and the latter sighs softly.

 

“Momo, if anyone could keep a secret, it would be Jihyo,” Mina assures her. “She probably has dirt on all of us and she hasn’t ratted anyone else yet. We can trust her.”

 

“I know, I’m sorry.” Momo kisses Mina on the before settling down on top of her. “I’m just scared of what everyone else will think. Even Jihyo doesn’t approve of this.”

 

“Why not? Because we’re friends having casual but within the same group?” Mina lets out a harsh chuckle. “Oh, right, yeah.”

 

Momo doesn’t meet Mina’s eyes for a second, as if she’s thinking of something—but her mood completely changes and she looks at Mina with a smirk. “But the is fun, isn’t it?”

 

Mina’s mouth curves up into a shy smile. “It is.”

 

“Now, let’s continue, shall we?” Momo starts kissing again, lifting Mina’s shirt slowly. When she runs out of breath after their make-out session, Momo sits up to remove her own shirt, prompting Mina to do the same. That’s when Jihyo’s phone rings. Mina pushes Momo to answer it, but Momo lets out a whine in response.

 

“It might be Jihyo, thinking she left her phone somewhere else,” Mina reasons, and then adds, “Don’t be so .” She kisses Momo on the lips before looking at the phone. But before she could answer, the call stops. Mina reads the name ‘Kang Daniel’ as the caller.

 

“Weird,” she utters.

 

“Hm? What’s weird?”

 

“Why would Kang Daniel be calling Jihyo? Aren’t they from different departments?”

 

“Maybe it’s like you said. Jihyo used his phone to call hers.”

 

Mina hums as she sits deep in thought. Then she frowns. “But why would they even be together?”

 

Momo shrugs, not really thinking about it. Just then, Jihyo’s phone lights up again, indicating a text. Mina can’t help but read it.

 

“‘Babe, where are you?’” she reads the text. “Sender: Kang Daniel.” Mina turns sharply towards Momo, who has no expression on her face.

 

“What?” says Momo, still oblivious. Mina stares at her until it finally sinks in. “…Wait! What! You mean—Jihyo—and Kang Daniel—”

 

Mina nods to every word Momo lets out.

 

“What!” Momo exclaims again. “We have to tell Nayeon and the others!”

 

“Are you crazy? They’ll make a fuss out of this whole thing! You know how Nayeon gets when we keep something from her, especially with Jeongyeon and Jihyo.”

 

“You’re right. She’s just like—”

 

“Sana,” they both mumble, looking at each other in understanding. Momo and Mina now find themselves in a similar situation as Jihyo, living in fear of what their best friend—Sana—might say about their… escapades.

 

“But Jihyo’s different though,” Momo says after a moment of silence. “Daniel called her babe, right? They must be in a relationship, then. Like… a real relationship.”

 

Mina purses her lip. “I don’t know… But still, this is Jihyo’s secret. It’s up to her whether she tells us or not.”

 

Momo lets out a sigh. “I guess you’re right. Let’s just pretend we don’t know anything.”

 

Later that day, when Jihyo comes back to the dorm, she asks Mina if her phone rang when she was outside.

 

“Yeah, but I didn’t get to see who it was,” Mina lies. “Momo and I were… umm, busy.”

 

Jihyo lets out a sigh as subtly as she can, but because Mina knows her secret now, she notices. Then, Jihyo’s tone changes. “You know, I still don’t agree with this… agreement you and Momo have. Someone’s gonna get hurt one way or another.”

 

Mina keeps quiet. She doesn’t really like talking about this thing she has with Momo. Jihyo senses this and sighs again. “Then again, who am I to judge,” she mumbles.

 

“What’d you say?” Mina asks, even though she heard Jihyo perfectly.

 

But Jihyo just shakes her head. “Nothing. I’m gonna go take a shower.”

 

Once Jihyo’s out of sight, Mina texts Momo. “We’re safe, she has no idea,” she sends.

 

About a week later, Nayeon invites Jeongyeon and Jihyo to go shopping. Jihyo declines the offer, saying she already made plans with some people from her major, leaving Nayeon and Jeongyeon on their own for the afternoon.

 

“Hey, Yoo Jeongyeon,” Nayeon mutters while they look around a shop somewhere in Myeongdong, “have you noticed anything different with Jihyo lately?”

 

Jeongyeon tries to think back on the recent weeks and how she’s interacted with Jihyo in those times. “I don’t think so. Why? Is there something up?”

 

“Really, you haven’t noticed? It’s just… I think she’s hiding something from us.”

 

“Like what?” Jeongyeon asks, following Nayeon towards the next shop.

 

“I don’t know what it is yet.”

 

“You can always just ask her, you know.”

 

“That’s exactly why I invited her to go out with us.” Nayeon lets out a frustrated sigh. “Maybe Mina knows something. You could ask her.”

 

“Me? Why me and not you?”

 

“Because you’re closer to her.” Nayeon clicks her tongue. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with her recently.”

 

Jeongyeon chuckles. “Im Nayeon, are you jealous? You’re jealous, aren’t you? You are such a jealous friend, Nabongs,” she teases her, poking Nayeon’s cheek. Nayeon gets annoyed at this so she storms out of the shop. Jeongyeon quickly runs out to follow her and grabs her by the hand.

 

“Aww, come on, Nabongs, don’t be like that.” Jeongyeon smiles at Nayeon. “You’re still one of my best friends. Don’t be jealous.”

 

Nayeon sighs. “I know I shouldn’t be, I’m sorry. Mina is such an amazing girl. Honestly I just want to get closer to her, too.”

 

“Just approach her and talk to her! She thinks you’re pretty so I think you’ll get along well.” Jeongyeon throws Nayeon a playful wink.

 

“What are you trying to say?” Nayeon frowns again.

 

“Nothing, nothing!” Jeongyeon rubs Nayeon’s head, messing up her hair. “Besides, I think it should be me who should be jealous.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Nayeon asks as she fixes her hair.

 

“You and Momo,” Jeongyeon deadpans. “You two have been going out so much lately it’s like you’re dating. I haven’t seen you that much in the past few days, come to think of it.”

 

Nayeon snorts. “Oh please. Surely you haven’t seen Jihyo more than me—” Nayeon stops, realization coming to mind. A look of horror flashes across her face which scares Jeongyeon.

 

“Nayeon? What’s wrong?”

 

The older girl slowly turns to look at Jeongyeon. “Jeongyeon. What if Jihyo’s dating someone?”

 

Jeongyeon searches the girl’s eyes and is quiet for a moment. And then…

 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Both girls laugh at the unimaginable thought.

 

“You’re thinking waaaay too much, Nayeon,” Jeongyeon says. “Let’s watch a movie so you can clear that head of yours. Come on, my treat.”

 

“Well, I won’t say no to that!”

 

After watching a movie, the two girls eat dinner—Nayeon’s treat this time—before returning to campus. They start walking back to their respective dorms, Nayeon walking with Jeongyeon to the latter’s dorm since it’s nearer to the campus main gate. As they get closer to her dorm, Jeongyeon sees two figures from a distance. She snorts, turning Nayeon’s attention to it as well.

 

“Who’s that?” Nayeon asks. “Do you know them? They look like a couple.”

 

“I don’t know them,” Jeongyeon replies, “but they’re doing PDA and it makes me sick.”

 

“Come on, Yoo Jeongyeon, they’re just showing their love to each other!” She slaps Jeongyeon’s shoulder. “Let’s take a closer look, see who it is. You might know them since they’re from your dorm.”

 

Unwillingly, Jeongyeon follows Nayeon as they tiptoe towards one of the bushes near their dorms. As they get closer the voices get louder and the faces get clearer. When they finally find a bush to hide behind, Nayeon starts whispering wildly in Jeongyeon’s ear.

 

“You see that? That’s Kang Daniel! He has a girlfriend from your dorm?”

 

“I guess… I couldn’t make out the girl though. I can’t see her face.”

 

“Me either. Let’s just wait until she talks to him.”

 

“…So I’ll see you next week then, shortie?” Daniel says, teasing the girl.

 

“I think I like ‘babe’ better than ‘shortie’,” the girl replies, her voice finally heard.

 

Wait, Jeongyeon thinks. That voice sounds extremely familiar…

 

“Then I’ll stick to calling you shortie.” He gives her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow!” he shouts as he jogs away from the dorm.

 

As it finally dawns on Jeongyeon who the girl’s voice belongs to, dread fills her when she realizes that Nayeon must have figured it out, too. Before the older girl can explode, Jeongyeon tries to stop her, but when she turns beside her, Nayeon’s not there anymore.

 

“N-Nayeon?” Jihyo’s voice cracks. “How… How long have you been there?”

 

“Long enough,” Nayeon answers, her voice cold and harsh.

 

Jeongyeon sighs, standing up as well and revealing herself.

 

“Jeongyeon? You heard it, too?”

 

Jeongyeon nods, her look apologetic. She tries through her eyes to tell Jihyo, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t stop her.’ Jihyo gets the message and subtly turns back to Nayeon.

 

This is gonna be a long night, Jeongyeon tells herself.

 

Dahyun majors in music. And so most of her time she spends either trying to play music or learn music. Today she decided to play some piano. And much to her luck, Sana accompanies her.

 

It isn’t that Dahyun hates Sana or anything; it’s just that she doesn’t know how to act when they’re alone. Sana is too forward—no, too… touchy? Too sweet? Dahyun’s never encountered anyone like her before. And it scares the hell out of her because it’s confusing. Is she like that to everyone, or just Dahyun?

 

Take today, for example. Earlier today when Dahyun bumped into Sana, Sana was walking arm in arm with some other girl—Eunha was it—and just briefly said hello to Dahyun. But shortly after Sana texts her asking her where she is. Maybe it was sheer foolishness, but Dahyun went ahead and told Sana her plans. And now she’s in the instrument hall with Dahyun, alone, together.

 

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Sana tells her, “I’m just here to hear you play.”

 

But how can Dahyun ignore her? Even if Sana’s not sitting beside her Dahyun can still trace the scent of her perfume. Maybe it’s because Sana’s hugged her so many times now so she can easily know her scent.

 

Right, that reminds Dahyun. Sana’s a hugger. She hugs everyone. It’s natural for her to just do these things with just anyone. Dahyun shouldn’t overthink this.

 

She goes on to play the first music that comes to mind, something that depicts her feelings. Sana isn’t a music major so she wouldn’t know what it means; heck, she probably wouldn’t even know the piece.

 

That’s exactly why Dahyun stops immediately when Sana mumbles, “Chopin?” right beside her. How did she even get here without me noticing?

 

“H-How’d you know that?”

 

“I didn’t. I just guessed.” Sana giggles.

 

“Oh,” Dahyun mutters dejectedly.

 

“I’m kidding. That’s Nocturne in E major, right?”

 

Dahyun gasps. “Okay, seriously, you’re freaking me out right now. Can you read my mind?”

 

Sana giggles again, and Dahyun admits to herself that it made her heart flutter. “No,” Sana answers her as she takes up the remaining empty space in Dahyun’s seat, “but I did look up some piano pieces on my spare time.”

 

“You did? Why?”

 

Sana leans in closer to her. “Because I wanted to impress you.”

 

They stay like that for what seems like forever, Dahyun staring into Sana’s intense eyes that hold her in place. But then Sana’s eyes linger somewhere else—downwards, they point, and before Dahyun knows it, Sana is leaning closer, and closer, and—

 

RRRRIIIIIIIINGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Both girls jump away from each other and Sana checks her phone. Dahyun collects herself, trying to cool her blushing face as subtly as possible.

 

“Yes, I’m with Dahyun. An emergency meeting?” Sana purses her lips. “…Yeah. Okay.” She ends the calls and looks at Dahyun. “Jihyo’s calling for an emergency meeting at the café.”

 

Dahyun blinks. “Emergency meeting? Do you know what for?”

 

Sana shrugs as she scrolls through her phone while waiting for Dahyun to fix her things. Then, an article catches her eye. “I think I know why we’re meeting now.” She shows a picture of Daniel and Jihyo outside the latter’s dorm.

 

“Tzuyu. Tzuyu-ya. Tzumoongie. Chou Tzu!!”

 

“What?” Tzuyu clicks her tongue, annoyed at her roommate now.

 

“Wow, you’re a today, huh?” Chaeyoung snickers. “So you finally saw that picture of Jihyo and Daniel together?”

 

Tzuyu lets out a sigh. “I never should’ve told you about this. You just keep teasing me anyway.”

 

“That was when you were cute and all lovey-dovey about it,” says Chaeyoung. “But this? This is just annoying.”

 

Tzuyu simply glares at her. “Just let me have this, Chaeng.”

 

“Come on, you can’t let one heartbreak ruin your life! It’s just a girl.”

 

“Chaeng, you like girls.”

 

“No, I like you.”

 

“What?”

 

“What?” Chaeyoung clears . “I said… you like Jihyo, but you shouldn’t let it get to you! There are other girls out there. And other things to enjoy.”

 

“I wanna be happy for her, but I… I just can’t right now.”

 

“Then don’t.” Chaeyoung sits beside her. “You can’t force out any feelings, Tzuyu, but time will pass. Soon you’ll forget that you even liked her and see her as just a friend.” She laughs internally at her advice. What a hypocrite, says the voice inside her head. She pays no mind to that voice for the moment.

 

Tzuyu’s phone lights up and she sees a message. “It’s Jihyo. She wants us to meet at the café. It’s an emergency meeting.”

 

“It’s probably to talk about the news, huh?”

 

Tzuyu nods.

 

“We can skip it,” Chaeyoung suggests.

 

“What? But it’s an emergency meeting.”

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. “Eh. We already know, anyway. Besides, I think it’s more for Nayeon and Jeongyeon, anyway. Especially Nayeon. She’s probably pissed that Jihyo didn’t tell her.”

 

“But…”

 

“Look. If we go in there, you’re probably gonna have to hear all about how Jihyo and Daniel started dating and everything they do as a couple. You’re gonna hear about how happy she is, how happy he makes her. And that’s gonna hurt you. Will you be able to do that?”

 

Tzuyu stares at her open-mouthed. Just picturing it in her head already hurts. Perhaps Chaeyoung is right. “You’re right, I won’t. But… won’t they get mad at us for not going?”

 

“Nayeon’s probably madder at Jihyo now than they will be at us for not coming. We’ll just make up an excuse. Let’s tell them we got caught up at school or something.”

 

Tzuyu sighs. “Okay. But if we get caught lying, you’re taking the fall.”

 

Jihyo puts down her phone after reading a message. “Tzuyu says she and Chaeyoung can’t come, so I guess we can start this now. Aside from Nayeon and Jeongyeon, you’re all probably wondering why I called you here.”

 

“Actually, Jihyo, I think Dahyun and I know,” Sana says, showing the picture to Jihyo.

 

“Oh. Okay. Well then I guess only Momo and Mina don’t—”

 

“Actually, Jihyo… We know,” Mina confesses. “We saw Daniel texting you last week.”

 

“How?” Jeongyeon asks.

 

“Jihyo left her phone at our room that day,” Mina answers.

 

“But why was Momo with you at your room?”

 

“You were together and you didn’t tell me?” Sana asks, clearly upset. Momo and Mina look at each other, frantically searching for a good lie.

 

“I asked Mina to help me with a dance,” Momo finally says. Sana seems to be satisfied by this. Momo glances at Mina and sees her shoulders relax.

 

Jihyo then clears to focus on the matter at hand. “Anyway, well, since you apparently already know, I’d just like to make it official: Daniel and I are dating. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys about it, but I just wanted to know him on my own. But Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and I talked about it yesterday, and, well…”

 

Outside Jihyo’s dorm the three girls stand—Jihyo, Nayeon, and Jeongyeon—the latter two having just found out about Jihyo dating Daniel. Time is at a standstill; no one is talking—they’re too afraid, but it’s only a matter of time before Nayeon explodes.

 

“N-Nayeon,” Jihyo starts, “let me explain—”

 

“Hey, Park Jihyo.” Nayeon’s tone is enough to shut her up. Jihyo looks her in the eye and prepares for the worst.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been dating?! And Kang Daniel? Wow! He’s fine!” Nayeon walks towards Jihyo, slapping her on the shoulder when she can reach her.

 

“I—Well—He’s—” Jihyo looks at Jeongyeon who just shrugs, visibly confused as well. “Wait, so… You’re not mad?”

 

Nayeon scoffs. “Why would I be mad? It’s been a long time coming, Park.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You’re always so stressed with schoolwork and council work. It’s time for you to let loose and enjoy the college life.”

 

Jihyo lets out a sigh of relief at those words. “So… you’re not mad at me for not telling you?”

 

Nayeon puts a hand on the younger’s shoulder. “Well, I guess I am a bit hurt. You’re always taking in the problems of our group. I guess it’s because of your inherent capacity to become a leader so everyone trusts you. But you need to trust us, too.”

 

“I know. I feel kinda bad.”

 

“Just tell us this: do you like him?”

 

And with that simple question, Jihyo smiles. “I do. He makes me happy.”

 

“Then I’m happy for you.”

 

“Thanks, Nayeon,” Jihyo says as Nayeon wraps her up in embrace. “You too, Jeongyeon! Come here!”

 

“Wha—So you really didn’t get mad?” Momo asks still, obviously surprised.

 

Nayeon scoffs. “Why does everyone assume I’d get mad?”

 

“Well, you are clingy,” Jeongyeon mumbles.

 

“And a bit possessive,” Momo adds.

 

“Plus you get mad at a lot of things,” says Jihyo.

 

“And you whine a lot,” Jeongyeon talks again.

 

“Alright, fine! I’m a clingy friend who whines a lot.” Nayeon rolls her eyes. “But I’m genuinely happy for our friend Jihyo here because she’s happy. That’s what friends are supposed to do, right?”

 

From across the two ends of the table, Momo and Mina share a look. Nayeon’s statement has gotten to them.

 

“But of course, Jihyo owes us something now,” Nayeon continues. “Yep. That’s right, ladies. It’s ‘Meet the Friends’ time!”

 

And right on cue, Daniel stands up two tables behind them and starts walking towards their table. “Hi, ladies,” he says shyly.

 

“So,” Jihyo says, “meet my boyfriend, Daniel.” She leans into the girls to whisper, “Go easy on him.”